The present invention generally relates to an improved method and system for validity checking a computer file of content for permitted or acceptable permitted design features stored in a profile specification. More specifically, it relates to an improved method and system for automatically validity checking a computer file defining web site content to determine whether it complies with permitted design features that are stored in a profile specification, wherein the profile specification is defined by a plurality of page components having elements with attributes, and each attribute designates a rule or specification indicating the permitted design features for that attribute.
It is common for a web site, especially a corporate web site, to require that posted web pages meet stringent web page design specifications. The specifications can include attributes, such as color, size and font, which must meet certain requirements.
In general, a web page can be divided into multiple page components, such as the top banner, counters and tables. Each page component is further divided into elements, such as navigational buttons, country indicator and logo. From each element, there may be numerous attributes belonging to that element. Attributes can be defined as a variety of items, such as format, height, or width position. The number and types of attributes available can vary greatly depending on the element related. Similarly, the types of elements available also greatly depend on the page component involved. Although the use of xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9canxe2x80x9d will sometimes be referred to for better readability, it should be understood that the use of xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9canxe2x80x9d also refers to xe2x80x9cone or morexe2x80x9d.
Because a different rule is designated to each attribute of each element of each page component, a great number of rules can be included for each web site. Further, it can take countless hours of manual labor to determine whether a particular web page meets the standard of all these rules, and the validation process can be lengthy and expensive. Consequently, there is a need for a computer implemented method and system that can automatically determine whether a particular web page meets all the permitted web site attributes.
The present invention is directed to an improved method and system for automatically validity checking a computer or electronic file of content, such as web site content to determine if it complies with permitted design features stored in a profile specification. More specifically, it relates to such an improved method and system for validity checking a computer file defining content to determine whether the content complies with permitted design features stored in a profile specification, wherein the profile specification is defined by a plurality of page components having elements with attributes, and each attribute designates a rule indicating the permitted or acceptable design features for that attribute.
The present invention provides a method that includes the steps of selecting an attribute from the file, detecting the features of the selected attribute, finding an attribute from the profile specification that matches the selected attribute from the file, and comparing a rule designated to the matched attribute from the profile specification with the detected features of the selected attribute from the file.
The present invention provides a further method that includes the steps of selecting a page component from the file, selecting an element of the selected component, selecting an attribute of the selected element, detecting the features of the selected attribute, finding an attribute from the profile specification that matches the selected attribute, and comparing a rule designated to the matched attribute from the profile specification with the detected features of the selected attribute.